Ex-Manila mayor Lim, 14 others face graft complaint over condemned P68.5-M school building

Former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim is facing another graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman, this time in connection with the construction of a supposed structurally unsafe school building in Tondo worth P68.5 million.

In a 12-page complaint filed Wednesday morning, concerned citizen Rosemarie Fernandez said Lim, 13 other former and incumbent officials of Manila, and a private respondent violated Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Fernandez was assisted by her lawyer Zachary Estacio in the filing of the complaint.

The complaint stemmed from the construction of the four-storey school building at the Rosauro Almario Elementary School in Tondo in 2010 during Lim’s term as mayor.

“The gravity of the defects in the construction of the ‘Lim Building’ is such that there is a certainty of it collapsing, endangering the lives and safety of innocents,” Fernandez said in her complaint.

Named as Lim’s co accused in the complaint were:

• Former city engineer Armando Andres
• Project inspector from the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) of the Manila City government Allan Beboso
• Former DEPW Material Testing Division chief Teresita Laxa
• DEPW Engineer IV Manuel Obina
• Former acting chief of the DEPW Designing Division Walfrido Novero, Jr.
• City Technical Working Group chair Jose Ronaldo Siojo
• Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Secretariat for Infrastructure Edgardo Holgado
• Lim’s former secretary and chairman of the BAC Rafaelito Garayblas
• Former city legal officer and BAC vice chairman Renato Dela Cruz
• BAC member Carlos Baltazar
• Former city budget officer and BAC member Alicia Moscaya
• Former officer-in-charge (OIC) of the City General Services Department and BAC member Leanie Sanding
• Former OIC of the City Planning and Development Office and BAC member Rodolfo Catu

Also named as respondent in the complaint was private contractor Carlos Barcelona, owner of the CC Barcelona Construction.

Based on the information of the complaint, Lim allegedly conspired with the other city officials to award to CC Barcelona Construction the P68.521 million on Jan. 27, 2010 despite the company’s alleged failure to submit the as-built plans and design analysis.

The complainant said the construction of the building was also done in haste as the project was allegedly completed within only three months.

The complainant noted that notice to proceed with the project was issued by the City Engineering Office on Jan. 29, 2010 and the contractor reported that the building was already completed on April 28, 2010.

In her complaint, Fernandez also cited a report from the city’s DEPW Designing Division dated June 18, 2015 noting several defects in the building.

“The building has no direct access to the stairs. Instead, the occupants of the Lim building had to rely on the corridor of the main building. Accordingly, in case the Lim Building tilts further during an actual earthquake, the occupants of the Lim building would have to jump their way to the corridor of the main building which may cause death or serious injury to them,” the complaint read, quoting the DEPW report signed by City Engineer Richard Regidor.

The DEPW inspectors also supposedly discovered diagonal and horizontal cracks on the classrooms’ walls and on the perimeter fence of the building.

The building was also found to be leaning away from the adjacent main building by about three meters.

Subsequently, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) National Capital Region concurred with the finding of City government’s DEPW and ordered the closure of the building in September 2015 declaring it as “condemned”.

The DPWH-NCR said that aside from structural defects, seismic irregularity was also observed, “in which the ground floor has such less stiffness that the storeys above."

Lim is again running for mayor of Manila City. The other candidates for the post are re-electionist former President Joseph Estrada and Manila 5th District Rep. Amado Bagatsing. —ALG, GMA News